Jury Calls for Death Penalty in Carjack Case

An Orange County jury on Wednesday recommended the death penalty for a 20-year-old Tustin man who carjacked an Anaheim college student, robbed him of $1 and then executed the student as he lay crouched in the trunk of his Jetta.

Some jurors sobbed as the verdict was announced against Shawn Kareem Burney, who last week was convicted along with two friends in connection with the murder of 23-year-old Joseph Andrew Kondrath in one of Orange County’s first carjacking cases.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty only for Burney because they believe he was the triggerman in the 1992 attack. Jurors had little difficult agreeing that Burney had only himself to blame.

“When he pulled that trigger, he took his own life,” said one juror, who spoke on the condition that her name be withheld. “We didn’t have a choice because of the coldbloodedness of the crime . . . and because there was no evidence of any remorse on Burney’s part.”

Burney appeared shaken in court Wednesday, taking off his glasses to wipe his eyes. His family and the family of his victim wept as the jury’s recommendation was announced.

Stuart Kosman, Kondrath’s cousin, said his family is taking their grief one day at a time, trying to get past their anger and sorrow.

“We are satisfied with this verdict,” Kosman said outside the courtroom. “We just want to put this behind us and go on and live a normal life. We’ll never forget Joey.”

He said his sympathy goes out to the families of Burney and his two co-defendants.

“We feel anguish like they feel anguish,” Kosman said. “We just want to put this behind us, get on with our lives.”

Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald is scheduled to sentence Burney Sept. 2. If the judge follows the jury’s recommendation, Burney would become the 29th person sent to Death Row from Orange County.

Kondrath was last seen leaving for his job at a supermarket at 4 a.m. on June 10, 1992. Prosecutors said he was grabbed from behind the wheel of his car in front of his home, robbed and shot in the head. Authorities believe Kondrath was murdered to eliminate him as a witness.

Kondrath’s body was found stuffed in the trunk of his car, not far from the condominium he shared with his mother and sister.

The murder was among the county’s first fatal carjackings, and it occurred when that type of crime began making headlines and rattling the nerves of motorists nationwide.

The jury convicted Burney and Allen Dean Burnett, 20, of Anaheim of first-degree murder, kidnaping, robbery and additional charges. Scott Rembert, 22, of Anaheim was convicted of kidnaping, but jurors deadlocked on remaining counts including murder and robbery.

Burnett will be sentenced in July. Prosecutors also must decide whether to retry Rembert.

The same jury deliberated for less than a day before deciding to recommend the death penalty for Burney.

Deputy Dist. Atty. David Brent called the jury’s recommendation appropriate.

“No one likes to ask a jury to pass the ultimate penalty,” Brent said. “But the facts of this case cried out for it. It’s hard to imagine a more brutal, coldblooded crime--a crime that valued human life any less than this.”

The juror said that “what pushed us over the line” toward the death penalty was trial testimony that Burney went dancing shortly after he killed Kondrath.

Outside the courtroom, some jurors sobbed as they exchanged hugs with Kondrath’s relatives. Some said it was the most painful decision they had made.

“Nothing compared to the burden we faced in the jury room,” another woman juror said. “No one should ever have to do this twice in a lifetime.”